He stood there staring out at the receding mist, unsure on how to proceed. He could hear the yells behind him becoming more and more frantic.
Netto turned himself off and focused on his surroundings. There were no fresh footprints on the beach, at least not the size of a little girl’s. It was reassuring that she had not wandered into the ocean. The only people who came up in the periphery of his radar were those that he had already accounted for.
His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. There was no scent of blood or of a child’s fear.
What he did hear was Sheryl scream as Lily remained missing. He went back up the bluff and headed straight for her. What had begun as a quiet morning and his life beginning fresh with Rylie was quickly becoming a nightmare.
“She's not here,” he urged and put a hand on Sheryl’s shoulder. He could smell the sweat and the hysterical tears on the edge of her eyelashes. Rylie came up running from the side.
“I can't find her!”
“Lily! Lily!” Rylie screamed again, turning in a circle.
“She's not here,” Netto repeated. “She hasn't been here for a few hours. There's no trail of her. At least nothing recent.”
Both women looked at him with the same horrified expression. He shook his head.
“What do you mean she's not here? I put her to bed last night. She had to be here!”
“How can this happen? Oh god...” He met Rylie's eyes as her face went slack with disbelief. “Oh no.” Her heart raced and it sounded like a drum in his ears. She turned on her heel and ran for the house.
“Oh god, what? What Rylie?” Sheryl yelled after her, her voice shrill. Quinten strode out of the house just as Rylie opened the door and ran into him. Netto moved forward and righted him as Rylie vanished inside. He followed her into the house.
Netto balled his fists and waited for the inevitable. He already knew what she was going to find and yet he hoped this was all a cruel joke. He closed his eyes and steeled his nerves, already knowing what he had to do.
He failed his mission. He sent a red alert to the EPED. The smell of lavender was no longer thick in the air.
“Janet's gone! Both of them are gone!”
Zeph wasgoneas well.
He had gone rogue.
***
JANET CURLED UP UNDERthe blanket, bringing her knees to her chest, and hoping she would fall back under before she truly woke up.
One hundred fish, ninety-nine fish, ninety-eight fish... She shivered after the third fish and gave up. It was unusually cold in her room, especially for the time of year. Kepler had mild temperatures where she lived but that didn't stop the occasional cool breeze coming from the ocean.
Janet grumbled and sighed into her blanket. It was either stay and be cold and uncomfortable or get up and change the thermostat.
Several minutes went by as she hoped sleep would find her again and that she wouldn’t have to make a decision but when it didn't she braced herself to rush to the console.
Janet got up and walked right into a wall.
“Ech!” she yelped as she bent over and flailed her arm about in confusion. “What the?”
Her palms slapped against the thing she had run into. It didn't feel like the stucco and wood of her family's home but of cold plastic and metal.
She twisted around and blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. “Who's there?” She didn't know why she asked it but she didn't know where she was.This isn't my room.
She dropped down into an aggressive stance and grappled about, trying to find her bearings.
“Hello?” She gulped and murmured under her breath, unsure whether or not she wanted to scream or to remain silent.
Janet wasn't worried, yet. This wouldn't be the first time she woke up in an unknown place and in an unknown bed. But as she thought of the events of the night before, her confusion subtly digressed into concern.
She had been with her family the night before, eating dinner. There was no way she could be in another man's room. This wasn't a one night stand.
